


More or Less

by Mosspool13



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Birthright Route, Character Study, Daddy Issues, Hoshido | Birthright Route, M/M, Meddling Midori, Midori and Asugi are bffs, Spoilers for Birthright
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-25 10:21:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6191269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mosspool13/pseuds/Mosspool13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are several stages of camaraderie. There's cooperation, reliability and trust.<br/>The relationship between Asugi and Shiro, well, Shiro thinks they're at reliability. Asugi thinks they are no where near even a single stage. And Midori thinks they have blown passed all the stages into something else entirely. </p><p>  <em>In which Asugi goes to Midori to complain about Shiro. Midori finds the whole thing amusing, and decides to do some meddling.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	More or Less

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place during the Birthright Route. (Beware of minor spoilers for the Birthright main story as well as supports between Asugi & Midori, Asugi & Shiro, Shiro & Ryouma, as well as Asugi and Shiro's recruitment chapters). 
> 
> Also, Asugi and Shiro have daddy issues.

“What’s got you all down in the dumps?” The pale purple of Midori’s irises are round as she blinks down at Asugi. Asugi harrumphs, glaring sightlessly up at the top of Midori’s tent, just past her head. “Don’t get me wrong,” she continues, as she ducks away from Asugi’s sight and he can hear her shuffling amongst her many, _many_ containers of medicine, “I don’t mind having you stop by, but not when you’re all grumpy like this.” 

“I’m not grumpy.” Asugi replies, grumpily. He frowns and then sits up to stare at the back of Midori’s head as she moves about her containers and vials. “Just irritated is all, Doc.”

“Why are you irritated?” She pauses, and then suddenly whirls around, a bright twinkle in her eye. “Do you need me to whip up a special tonic for you? Oh! Or perhaps you want me to make you some more of my special candy?” 

Asugi perks up at that, clouded expression easing ever so slightly. Candy has always had that effect on him, and Midori knows it too for she flashes him a triumphant smile. However, Asugi knows he came here not for candy—as unbelievable as that sounds—but for some well-needed advice. Asugi sobers, sitting up a little straighter and beckoning to his cousin. “Hold on the goodies for a sec, Doc. I have something I want to ask ya’ about. You got a level head, can I pick your brain for a bit?” 

“You’re actually coming to _me_ for advice?! Oh gods, this is amazing!” She grabs the nearest stool and sits it down in front of Asugi, plopping down across from him eagerly, mouth too wide. “Alright I’m ready!” 

_Was this really a good idea?_ he thinks, but it’s too late to turn back now. _To hell with it,_ “It’s about Shiro.” Asugi states, without preamble. Midori blinks. 

“Shiro?” She tilts her head. “What about him?” 

Asugi squints, expression clouding in disdain. “He’s insufferable.” 

“How so?” 

It takes all of Asugi’s willpower not to start listing a number of annoying and frustrating qualities regarding the man. Instead, he names the one that’s most vexing. “He’s taken it upon himself to oversee my infiltration missions. It’s become some sort of game for him.” Asugi clenches his teeth in aggravation as he recalls on numerous occasions coming across Shiro while undercover, nearly blowing operation after operation because of the man’s selfish inclinations. “Normally, I can just ignore him for long enough, finish the mission and then we have it out afterwards. This last time though,” a sharp _crack_ sounds from Asugi’s mouth where he’d bitten clean through the lollipop perched on his tongue, “he came in while I was getting information and nearly got us both killed.” To be fair, the operation hadn’t been going as smoothly as Asugi’s usual infiltrations did. There’d been some unforeseen circumstances, and Asugi’d had to get the information as quickly as possible, which left little time for subtlety. He’d been getting desperate when Shiro had arrived. In the end, they’d gotten the information on sheer luck alone, regardless of if Shiro had interrupted or not. 

Asugi had really ripped a new one into Shiro after that mess. It’d taken Sakura, Kamui, _and_ Suzukaze to break them apart. And even then they hadn’t stopped arguing until Ryouma had arrived and taken Shiro away. Saizou had found him almost immediately afterwards, and man had _that_ been a fun conversation. Asugi presses a closed fist against his leg, glaring at the knuckles on his hand. He had found his way to Midori’s tent as soon as his father had left him alone.

Midori is contemplative, eyes narrowed in thought. “You say he didn’t show up until things were starting to get desperate?” 

“Yeah, so what?” 

“Sounds to me like he wanted to make sure you didn’t do anything dangerous.” Midori comments, looking fairly amused. Asugi flashes her an incredulous look. 

“Nah. He’s just trying to get on my nerves.”

“That too.” She concedes, with a smile. She shakes her head then, giggling behind a hand against her mouth. 

“What?” Asugi bites out, frowning. The mirth in Midori’s eyes has him soften ever so slightly, but it also puts him on edge. She shakes her head, not replying, and Asugi huffs, rolling his eyes and reaches forwards to press his hands against the top of her head. He ruffles her hair, effectively making a mess of her bangs and dislodging some of the hair clasped back in her trademark pigtails. 

“Hey!” She shouts, swatting him off. Asugi laughs, freeing his cousin and allowing her to get a handle back on her hair. “That’s for laughing at me.”

“I wasn’t laughing _at_ you.” She protests, still maintaining a grin. “But, well, man you sure are dense.” 

“Who you callin’ dense, Doc?” Asugi growls in mock anger, grabbing for Midori’s hair again. Midori clamors away with a delighted squeal, laughing as Asugi grins. They wrestle for a while, enjoying the simple play that good friends can. Asugi wonders, briefly, why all of the children had been isolated into separate Deeprealms and not into a single one. Why is it that he had only just met his cousin a mere few weeks ago? Or Shiro, and Kiragi, Hisame and even dour-faced Dwyer? 

After they calm down from their roughhousing, Midori sets her hands on her hips, looking determined, 

“Alright, Asugi! I’ve decided.”

Asugi blinks. “Sorry?”

“I’m going to help the two of you out. I think you both need an intervention.” 

Asugi rolls his eyes. “I’m not trying to make friends with the guy. Just because we worked fine enough chasing thieves together that one time doesn’t mean I need him as my damn shadow. My missions are dangerous. A prince like him shouldn’t be anywhere near that level of danger.” 

Midori smirks. “And this is exactly why you need an intervention! Don’t worry, I’ll handle this.”

Asugi is really beginning to think he made a mistake coming to Midori for advice after all.

\------  
A few days pass and Asugi forgets about Midori’s ominous words. He settles into a complacency that revolves around candy, lazy afternoons and no Shiro. Well, that’s not completely true. Asugi and Shiro interact, but only about as much as one would with an unfamiliar relative you’re forced to communicate with through obligation alone. Their correspondence is mostly through passing along messages to their fathers. Saizou somehow finds the time to harass Asugi into sending along a message to his Lord, and yet can’t find the time to go take the message to him himself. Asugi knows that the reason for this is that the warfront back in Hoshido is not going well. That Yukimura is barely holding the line. He knows that the added stress is effecting both Lord Ryouma and his father, but Asugi is petty. He wants to yell about how Saizou’s devotion to Hoshido is more than the devotion he ever showed his own flesh-and-blood. He wants to throw the “Saizou” name back into his father’s face, talk about _loyalty_. He wants to scream about how Saizou can call neglecting his son “for the greater good”. (Even then, he still takes the messages without complaint.) 

It’s another message for Ryouma—another damaging report about the failing warfront—that brings Asugi to the training grounds where he knows he’ll be able to find Shiro perfecting his skills with his lance. The lance-wielder is where Asugi expected he would be, eyes closed, lance in both hands as he stands in a poised position, ready to strike. Asugi lingers, watching the rise and fall of Shiro’s breath as the man meditates. Then, Shiro’s eyes snap open, and, just as quickly, his lance thrusts forwards in a jab that could, if he’d been fighting a real opponent, break the enemy’s spine in two. 

Asugi claps once. “Nice moves, prince.” 

Shiro blinks, as if waking from a dream, and tilts his head to regard Asugi out of the corner of his eye. “Is it a message for my father?” 

“Very astute of you.” Asugi says, sarcastically, as he approaches, “when is it not about our fathers?” 

Shiro smiles to himself, looking down. 

Asugi relays the message and Shiro nods, expression composed. It’s a strange contrast to the usual cockiness Asugi is used to, or the sardonic grin, or the amused smirk. It’s an improvement, however, seeing as the other three emotions Shiro usually expels grate on Asugi’s nerves. 

“I’ll take my leave then.” He says, after he explains everything. He turns to go but Shiro calls out to him. Asugi turns around, one eyebrow raised, and meets the slightly apprehensive look on Shiro’s face. The nervousness wafting off of Shiro gives Asugi pause. He’s _never_ seen Shiro look so pensive before. Frankly, it’s a bit of a shock. 

Asugi almost opens his mouth to ask if the other is okay, when Shiro says, “You could have told me,” 

“Sorry?”

“About your feelings regarding me.” Shiro elaborates, looking slightly uncomfortable. Asugi stiffens. “Midori told me.” 

_That girl…._ “She did, did she?” Asugi’s hands tighten into fists. He’d rather not have this out with Shiro right now; especially not over something Midori might have insinuated. 

Shiro rubs the back of his neck, his other hand clutching his lance tightly in a fisted grip. Asugi’s eyes trail to the movement of his fingers tightening around the lance’s hilt. The skin of Shiro’s knuckles looks pale and tattered from countless amounts of hours spent training. Asugi winces sympathetically just looking at them. It surprises him sometimes how much effort Shiro puts into his training considering he’s a prince and all. Asugi had always thought a prince was supposed to be poised, with smooth hands. Shiro looks and acts nothing like a prince. When they’d first met, Shiro had come across as haughty and overconfident, a clear contrast to Ryouma’s polite but commanding presence. He’d expected princes to be leaders, but the type to hide behind their retainers. Of course, after joining the army, Asugi had learnt who Ryouma _really_ was, and how powerful a samurai Ryouma indeed is. (The little knowledge he had gleaned regarding Hoshidan royalty had all been while on the job working with Funke and his team.) One of the few memories he has of his father before being recruited, he remembers Saizou explaining how important his job as Ryouma’s retainer was. How he needed to protect the future King of Hoshido. Asugi had grown up assuming that it was Ryouma’s retainers whom protected royalty (there had been no one there to tell him otherwise). It was clear that was not the case. At least, not the whole story. 

So Asugi is not ashamed to say he didn’t get what was so great about Ryouma when he’d first met the man, nor was impressed by his son. With just one look at Shiro, Asugi had known they wouldn’t get along. Asugi knew he wasn’t a joy to hang around with either; his personality was too acidic. Even in the Deeprealms, those bandits he’d partnered up with avoided him more often than not on account of his attitude. Only Funke had bothered to make conversation with him. It came as no surprise that he and Shiro butted heads on a regular basis. 

After teaming up to capture those thieves that had infiltrated the camp, however, things had become more amiable between them. They fought less often, and even partnered up on occasion during battles or when chasing down enemies. But then Shiro had taken an interest in Asugi’s infiltration missions, and suddenly he’d become just as annoying and bothersome as he’d been when they’d first met. Why Shiro suddenly took an interest in what Asugi does outside of battle, he has no idea. But looking at Shiro now, sweat still rolling down the side of his face, Asugi is perplexed by the dedication and time he puts into training so hard. It reminds him a little of how much effort _he_ puts in during his infiltration missions, and he finds himself annoyed again at the thought. These missions are what he is good at. To have Shiro following him around as if he is just waiting to see Asugi screw up, expecting it even, frustrates him. 

“I still need to think things over.” Shiro says, bringing Asugi’s attention back to him and the way the other is looking at him, eyes narrowed seriously. Asugi blinks twice at the weird tension in the way his brows are furrowed. “But I want to give you a straightforward answer. Can we discuss this later?” 

Asugi sighs, relieved that he doesn’t need to get into a fight right now. Maybe later will be even worse timing but at least Asugi can be prepared for it. “Fine. Your tent? After dinner?” 

Shiro nods, looking relieved himself, and Asugi watches as the prince turns to head off to presumably relay Saizou’s message to Ryouma. 

The rest of the day Asugi spends trying to hunt down Midori. Unfortunately, Midori has seemed to have gotten word that Asugi is looking for her and has promptly vanished from the places and people Asugi can usually find her at and with. Her behavior solidifies Asugi’s belief of her intentional actions in speaking to Shiro about what he _thought_ had been a private discussion between friends—cousins even!—but clearly she hadn’t felt the same way, had even said she wanted to “intervene” or whatever the hells she had meant. Asugi growls in frustration when, again, he can’t seem to find her.

And now it’s coming around the time for dinner, which means his talk with Shiro, and Asugi realizes he’s just about lost his appetite (except for sweets, he always has time for sweets). 

Sophie giggles as she turns Asugi away for the fifth time. 

“She probably doesn’t want to be found, Asugi.” 

“Yeah I’m getting that.” Asugi bites back. “Just, let me know if you see her, ay, Stumbles?” 

She waves her hand. “Sure, sure. Now let’s go get food! She might even be in the mess hall.” 

Midori was not, in fact, in the mess hall. Of course, unsurprisingly, only the most stalwart, and the kindest, of the army was there. Felicia was on cooking duty tonight—which meant most of the army was either not present, or made food for themselves instead—and she was bustling about in the kitchen, pink hair flying in her wake. Asugi winced when he heard the telltale crash of dishes. 

“Maybe I’ll skip dinner tonight.” Asugi tells Sophie, seeing the pained expression on her own face. She nods in agreement. 

_It’s now or ever_ , Asugi thinks as he leaves the mess hall and heads towards where Shiro’s tent is situated. 

He doesn’t bother making his presence known—Shiro’s waiting for him anyway, or at least he should be, so Asugi doesn’t see the point in being courteous, especially if they’re going to get into an argument anyway—and enters. He finds Shiro sitting cross-legged on his cot. His tent is relatively standard compared to the other royals’ tents. It’s plain, in fact, devoid of much besides a bed and a table and chair. His lance is the only “Shiro” item inside, propped up alongside the bed. 

Shiro himself has his eyes closed, hands folded on his knees. He looks like he’s meditating again, which, if Asugi is honest, is a little unnerving. He almost wants to push and unbalance the man, put an expression on his face. 

“You ready to talk, prince?” 

Shiro flinches, as if he hadn’t expected Asugi to be there—Asugi frowns—and opens his eyes, giving Asugi a wary glance. This just serves to make Asugi both uncomfortable and annoyed. “Didn’t think you were the type to meditate.” He comments, waving a hand dismissively in Shiro’s direction. “You’re all brash and big muscle, didn’t figure you had much of a brain up in there.” 

Shiro scowls, rising from the bed to glare at Asugi. “Dad mentioned how he meditated when he needs to think about things so I thought I’d give it a try. He said it was a good way to relax one’s self.”

Asugi matches Shiro’s scowl, thinking of Saizou’s “advice” in how he ought to be more worthy of his legacy. “So you follow whatever your dad does?” 

A flash of anger flits across Shiro’s eyes. “I’m not following in his footsteps if that’s what you’re asking. I want to be worthy of his Rajinto one day in my own way, and eventually the crown… maybe. I’ve already wasted so much time playing around when I was in the Deeprealm.” 

Asugi raises an eyebrow, “are you saying you actually _aren’t_ worthy of your old man’s sword? _You_ of all people? Cocky and confident to a fault?” 

Shiro clicks his tongue, looking frustrated, “it’s the truth isn’t it? I didn’t even know I was a prince before dad came and got me. He kept something that big from me, of _course_ I’m not worthy of his sword.” 

Asugi’s eyes widen. “You didn’t know you were a prince?” Shiro glances up and holds Asugi’s stare, mouth twitching into something amused and sad at once. 

“Kinda strange, ain’t it? I grew up thinking I was some normal kid. All I wanted to do was be able to best my dad in combat.” He sighs, looking uncomfortable and weary, a look Asugi is still not used to even though this is the second time he’s seen it in one day alone. “Now I find out he’s some Big Cheese, prince of Hoshido, _King_ even! It’s like I’m a kid all over again. How am I ever going to beat that?” 

Asugi watches Shiro’s brows knit in frustration, sees the way the other’s hands ball up into fists so tight the broken skin of his knuckles pinch and turn pink with strain. Asugi has the sudden urge to reach out and pull his hands apart. It’s a strange thought that Asugi banishes as soon as he thinks it. Instead, Asugi says, “you don’t need to be your old man.” Shiro looks up, surprised, probably because these words are coming out of Asugi’s mouth, of all people, even Asugi is a little surprised he’s saying anything. He doesn’t do comfort, let alone to Shiro of all people. It just isn’t something Asugi _does_. But here he is, attempting to say something profound. 

“You said you wanted to be worthy in your own way.” He says, squinting as he tries to figure out what the hell he’s even saying. “so… just do your own thing.” He scowls because it just sounds like he’s repeating himself, or repeating what Shiro was saying. He tries to rectify the situation when he suddenly hears Shiro’s laughter. Asugi’s mouth closes shut with a snap as he turns to glare at the hunched form of Shiro chortling. He has an arm around his face, hiding his expression but Asugi can clearly _hear_ him, and he can see the other’s shoulders shaking with mirth.

“Shut up, I was trying to be helpful.” Asugi growls. This causes Shiro to laugh harder and Asugi growls audibly. 

“That’s what you call helping? You’re horrible at it.” Shiro says around his laughter, looking up with his eyes crinkled. 

Asugi pauses to take in the effect. He’s pissed because hell he’s _never_ comforting another person _ever_ again, but he’s also taken aback by the way Shiro wears laughter. It’s a good look on him. Sure, Asugi’s seen him happy before (if you call smirking cockily happy) and he’s even seen the other laugh before (because even if Dwyer may be as uptight as he is lazy, the man does have a sense of humor) but he’s never seen it up close like this before, or in response to something he’s done. It takes him aback for a moment and leaves him staring, long enough that Shiro takes notice. He raises an eyebrow and Asugi flushes, turning away with a scowl. 

“Whatever, I’m here to talk about what Midori said anyway.” Asugi reminds, once he’s gained control of his expression he turns back to face Shiro head on. Shiro is still glowing with the aftereffects of his laughter, and his grin is cocky and familiar. 

“Changing the subject, eh, Asugi?” Shiro mocks. Asugi is just about ready to return with a scathing retort when Shiro’s smirk settles into something softer and he says, “I knew it. I’m much calmer now talking to you. Meditating didn’t give me nearly the same effect.” 

His sudden words have Asugi faltering with confusion for a moment. “What…?”

Shiro runs a hand through his hair, “I was thinking about what I was going to say to you and I was freaking out about it. I remembered my dad saying meditation worked for him so I tried it but my thoughts were still all over the place, and I was still on edge. And then you came and we started arguing like we usually do and I realized how _normal_ the whole thing was. I thought things would be weird after learning about how you felt from Midori and all, but everything was exactly the same.” He looks Asugi in the eye, “I’m relieved. I like the way things are now.” 

Asugi still feels lost if he’s honest. But it seems as though Shiro hadn’t wanted to get into an argument, which is a surprising relief to Asugi because he sure didn’t want to fight any more than usual. The bickering _is_ familiar, and settling into their usual routine is comforting. Perhaps Midori’s meddling had been useful after all. 

“I’m relieved as well.” Asugi speaks up, catching Shiro’s eyes, “when I’d told Midori I had wanted to keep it a secret. I was mostly looking for advice, really. I’m glad you understand.” Perhaps now he can get some peace and quiet out on his missions. 

Shiro steps forward, close enough that Asugi has to look up a little bit to meet Shiro’s gaze. “Too embarrassed to tell me yourself?” Shiro replies, smirking and looking weirdly satisfied. 

Asugi frowns. “Not embarrassed. Figured I’d get some help first before I came to you about it. Wanted to know what she thought about the whole thing. Didn’t think she’d go blabbing to you afterwards.”

Shiro hums, leaning in closer than Asugi is comfortable with. _Is this some sort of intimidation technique?_ Asugi thinks, rolling his eyes internally. His skills in infiltration make sure he knows a thing or two about body language and Shiro is not at all exuding intimidation. Not to mention Shiro had said he didn’t wanted to fight. 

“I’m not sure how I would have reacted had it come straight from your mouth, honestly. I might have taken it as a joke.” He says, hand coming up and cupping Asugi’s cheek. Asugi freezes. Warning bells are ringing in his head, are they actually going to have it out here? 

“I realized now, I don’t want it to be a joke.” Shiro says. Then he leans down and kisses Asugi. Asugi inhales sharply in shock, completely petrified beneath Shiro’s touch. His thoughts can’t even form coherency let alone words for him to make sense of what the hell is happening. 

Shiro pulls away, looking pleased, and sees the shocked expression on Asugi face. He frowns. “Asugi?” 

His name jolts Asugi out of his frozen state and he jerks away from Shiro, putting as much distance between them as he can. His face is on fire and he presses the back of his hand to his mouth, “What in all the criven-hopping blister-arse--” he cuts himself off to shout more succinctly, “what the hell was that?!” 

Shiro looks confused. “It was a kiss.” 

Great. So Shiro hadn’t been trying to headbutt him with his lips then. On… Asugi’s own lips, okay he knows it sounds ridiculous but how else could he have made sense of what just happened. “Why did you…” he chokes, “that to me?!” 

“Because I wanted to.” 

“Why?!”

“Because I thought you’d like it. Clearly I was wrong.” 

“Why would you ever think I’d want you to—” he still can’t say the word so he just gestures vaguely and Shiro’s ham-skull seems to understand what he was referencing for Shiro frowns and says, “Midori told me you had feelings for me. That’s why I wanted to talk to you… and give you my answer.” 

“ _Midori_ ” her name comes out sinister from Asugi’s mouth. Now he knows why Midori had been so elusive when Asugi had been searching for her earlier. Everything makes sense now. “That damned girl.” 

“ _Do_ you have feelings for me?” Shiro asks. 

“No!” Asugi shouts, so loud and so quick that Shiro flinches. Asugi almost feels bad but then he remembers that Shiro actually _kissed_ him and—he rubs his mouth with the back of his hand and Shiro’s expression closes off. 

“Sorry I got the wrong impression then.” Shiro says, sounding odd. Not quite distant but it’s not the usual voice Asugi is used to and Asugi pauses to give Shiro a look. Shiro doesn’t meet his eyes. Instead, he turns and picks up his lance, stalking past Asugi to leave his tent, keeping a large enough distance between them. “I’m going to go train for a bit.” 

“It’s pretty late.” Asugi point out but Shiro ignores him, opening the tent flap and leaving Asugi standing in his tent, alone. 

Asugi curses Midori for giving Shiro the wrong impression, feeling both miserable for Shiro’s abrupt exit and guilty for snapping the way he had. Things like romance aren’t his forte. Sure, he’s flirted with a few girls here and there—he needs to know the ins and outs of flirting if he wants to get information. It’s a part of his job, after all. He’s also not a stranger to flirting with men either, if he needs to. It’s not like Asugi cares about gender when it comes down to spying and gathering intel. Frankly, he’s more shocked that Shiro wasn’t turned off by Midori’s suggestion because of Asugi’s gender. That he’d accepted Asugi’s “feelings”, even maybe reciprocated them? If that kiss meant anything at all, which Asugi _thinks_ it did, replaying their conversation in his head a second time as he leaves Shiro’s tent and heads to his own. 

He knows he’ll need to sort things out properly with Shiro later. He also knows he’s going to have a long talk with Midori about her “intervention”. But it’s late, and he’s exhausted from everything that just happened so he heads to his bed and flops down for a much needed night of rest. 

\-------  
He finds Midori talking to some of the other girls early the next morning. He doesn’t even acknowledge the others as he walks up and grabs Midori by the ear. 

“Ow owowowow!” Midori whines as he drags her off. He finally releases her once they are out of earshot of the others. She rubs her ear, pouting. “What was that for?” 

He crosses his arms and glares down at her. “Why did you tell Shiro I have feelings for him?” 

Midori perks up, “Oh! Did he confess to you? Please tell me he did because that would be so cute--!”

“Quiet!” Asugi claps a hand over her mouth to stop the influx of babbling excitement he’s gotten too used to after meeting her. He releases once she’s calmed down and gives her a stern glare. “Why did you think that was a good idea?” 

“I told you,” she says seriously. “I’m staging an intervention. Besides, everyone thinks you two like each other anyway, you bicker like an old married couple.” 

“We do not! And like hell everyone knows. I don’t like him!”

Midori rolls her eyes, “that stubbornness is why I’m staging an intervention in the first place, you know. Just admit it already and work things out, it’s embarrassing watching you two.” 

Asugi splutters a refusal, _”embarrassing how?” “You make googly eyes at each other.” “We do not! I do not!”_ He finds it difficult to get out anything coherent before he settles for, “I’m cancelling our friendship until I forgive you!”

Midori presses a hand to her heart, looking mock horrified, “aww, oh well,” she perks up, blinking innocently up at her cousin, “I guess you won’t be getting any of my special candy then.” 

“Nevermind, you’re still my bestest best friend whom I treasure dearly, so dearly.” 

“That’s what I thought.” 

She laughs and then takes Asugi’s hand. He looks down at her, eyes wide as she says, seriously, “Asugi really, I want you to be happy. I think you two would be good for each other. You guys have a lot in common, more than you might think. You’re so lonely all the time. I just want you to be happy.” 

Asugi wants to deny it. He’s not lonely. Sure, he prefers to go out on solo mission. He’s better alone. It’s safer and better, easier even. He doesn’t have to watch after anyone, he can take care of himself, he’s been doing it for years in the Deeprealm, why would it need to change now? He’s not lonely. 

He realizes how sad that sounds and he sighs, looking down at his cousin. He raises a hand and ruffles her hair again, dislodging her pigtails once more. “I’m not lonely, Doc. I’ve got you as a best friend, don’t I?” 

She perks up, smiling wide up at him, and nods. “Yeah!” She hugs him around the waist—damn is she tiny—and then turns to head back towards the other girls. “Seriously! Talk to him!” She points at him seriously with her eyes narrowed before she waves and runs off. Asugi sighs. 

\-------  
Finding Shiro is difficult when the other is trying his damnedest to make it impossible to find him, let alone be alone with him. Whenever Asugi actually manages to catch him, Shiro makes some sort of excuse to run away. It’s frustrating and damn annoying and Asugi’s patience is running thin. Of course, by the time he’s finally fed up enough that he seriously considers tying the man down just to keep him from running away, Saizou shows up with a new mission. 

Solo. Infiltration. Critical Intel. Saizou says, all broken up like that because it’s important information and if he doesn’t nearly bite off his tongue each time he finishes a word then Asugi won’t take it seriously (when has he ever not taken it seriously?) and tells him it’ll be a long mission this time. Maybe a few months depending on how well Asugi does. It’s also a dangerous one. Possibly the most dangerous mission Asugi’s been assigned to since joining the campaign. “This is important. You will not fail.” Saizou says, and what Asugi hears is, _“A Saizou would not fail.”_

He doesn’t see Shiro when he leaves, but he hugs Midori goodbye. 

It takes some time to settle in, but by the time a month has passed, Asugi is deep enough within the group that he is trusted by the members enough that they aren’t so on edge around him. He gathers tidbits of information here and there about the Nohrian army’s movements, even some other operations going on behind the scenes. He hears a few things about the Hoshidan army too, about how Yukimura is holding his own against the main force of Nohrian’s army, led by the crown prince of Nohr himself. He even hears about how Kamui and the others have made their way deeper into Nohrian territory on their way to confront King Garon. It’s a relief to learn that the army hasn’t had many casualties. Asugi thinks of Shiro and he can’t help but be embarrassed. Midori’s been putting thoughts into his head, and ever since he’s been thinking of Shiro on and off again. 

By the time three months have passed, Asugi admits to himself that he actually misses their constant bickering. Every now and again Asugi gets into arguments with some of the men in his company and it reminds him of Shiro. Every lance wielder he comes across makes him think of Shiro. He wonders how the other is training, if he stills trains as hard as he does. He thinks of Shiro’s hands, his knuckles and flushes when he remembers how Shiro had cupped his face. He blames Midori again, but he knows deep down that, even if he hadn’t acknowledged his feelings at the time, he had spent a lot of time checking Shiro out. He took too much interest in Shiro’s hands (always wondering why they looked so beaten up, knowing he trained for long hours to hone his craft), and he realizes now he may have had a not so platonic interest in them. It makes him embarrassed thinking about it. 

A lot of things remind him of Shiro, and that’s where the mission starts to go wrong. He’d been arguing with another member of the company, remembering how he’d had a similar conversation with Shiro before, and he reveled in the familiarity of the banter, when he let slip, “I don’t know why I’m friends with such a bratty, Hoshidan prince.” The man he’d been arguing with freezes, and Asugi freezes and curses under his breath. He tries to cover it up as a joke, but the man isn’t having it (who randomly mentions being friends with the Hoshidan prince in conversation like that? No well respecting Nohrian soldier). He takes out his weapon, ready to attack. 

“Asugi! Duck!” Asugi recognizes the voice and doesn’t think twice before he’s down on the ground. The swipe of a lance soars over his head and connects with the enemy soldier. He goes down without a sound and Asugi sits up to stare Shiro in the eye. 

“What in the gods name are you doing here!?” Asugi gasps, surprised—and definitely not pleased, nope—to see him there. 

Shiro raises an eyebrow at him, “saving your ass, apparently. Hurry up and let’s go! This mission is officially over.” Asugi couldn’t agree more, and the two bolt. Shiro leads the way as far from the company as possible before he deems it safe enough for them to have a short break. He rests his lance against a wall, leaning against it himself and tilting his head back, exposing an expanse of his throat. Asugi finds his eyes locked on the skin, dabbed with sweat, and he swallows. 

“Thanks.” Asugi says instead, turning his eyes determinedly to Shiro’s face. The other looks up, meeting his gaze and nods, cracking a familiar smile.

“Yeah, well, I couldn’t let one of dad’s best spies just die like that, now could I?” 

Asugi shrugs, breathing heavily from all that running they had done. Once his breathing has calmed somewhat, he asks, “Why did you come here?” 

Shiro doesn’t answer for a moment, looking instead at his feet. He’s still breathing heavily and Asugi lets him catch his breath and come up with his answer. “Dad wanted you to come back and let us know what information you’d gotten so far.”

Asugi shakes his head. “I get that, I meant why did they send _you_? This mission was dangerous. That’s what Saizou told me, he, let alone your dad, wouldn’t have let you come. Especially not alone.”

Shiro rubs the back of his neck. “I, uh, may have run off on my own.” Asugi stares and Shiro scowls down at his feet. “I just… I didn’t get to see you off because I was a coward. And I realized if something happened that our last conversation would have been” he cringes, “ _that_ and I didn’t want that, so I wanted to come and talk to you myself.” He raises his eyes to give Asugi the full brunt of his gaze. Asugi feels bared under Shiro dark eyes. “I know you don’t have feelings for me. You made that pretty clear, but I—”

“Who said I don’t have feelings for you.” Asugi interrupts. 

Shiro looks at him blankly. “You did?” 

“Yeah, well, when have you ever taken me seriously?” Asugi snorts and steps forwards to take Shiro’s face in his hands. Shiro stares, eyes wide, but doesn’t shy away from Asugi’s touch. Asugi swore to himself as they were running just a little earlier that he’d take Midori’s advice. She’d been right. He was lonely. He and Shiro had declared themselves partners when they’d worked together to chase down those thieves. He knew at the time they both had meant something different, but Asugi thinks that he wants to be partners with Shiro in every sense of the word. He may not be the most romantic cookie in the jar, but he definitely isn’t going to let Shiro walk away from him this time. 

Asugi looks into Shiro’s eyes. “I’m prickly, and petty, and we’ll probably get into a thousand arguments daily, but if you’ll have me… I want to be partners with you.” Shiro continues to stare and Asugi snorts, rolling his eyes. “And I mean that in everything, ham-for-brains. So? What do you say?” 

Shiro blinks, and then blinks again, and still he doesn’t say anything so Asugi huffs in frustration and then leans forward to press their mouths together. Shiro flinches at the contact and Asugi pulls away, wary. “Sorry, I should have asked you first.”

Shiro still isn’t saying anything, and he’s still staring, but he doesn’t seem disgusted, or angry, so Asugi sighs again and rolls his eyes for a second time. “Work with me here, prince.”

Shiro swallows, seeming to come around, finally. “You… want to be partners?”

“Yes.”

“With me?”

“Yes.” 

“In every way?” 

Asugi huffs again. “Yes. Gods. I didn’t realize how slow you were but I guess I should have known considering how much ham you have stuffed in your brain.” 

Shiro glares at him and Asugi laughs, pulling away but Shiro grabs him by the wrists and pulls him back. His eyes are intense. “Do you really mean that?” 

Asugi searches Shiro’s face, sees the intense deliberation and nods, watching as the relief softens Shiro’s hard edges. “Thank the gods.” He gasps, and presses forwards to kiss Asugi again. Asugi lets him. They’ll definitely need to talk things out seriously later, and there will definitely need to be some restrictions in regards to… whatever. But for now, Asugi is content to let this be what it is. 

He’s actually thankful that Midori decided to meddle this time.

**Author's Note:**

> (spoilers below, read at your own risk)
> 
> I know in the supports Asugi and Saizou come to something of an understanding, but in this fic I wanted to explore their relationship without their resolution. Even at the end of their support things aren't exactly comfortable between them. Sure, Saizou accepted Asugi as his own man, and Asugi decided he did want to make his father proud, but they still didn't exactly resolve their relationship. The father-son relationship between Saizou and Asugi is probably the one I find the most interesting (out of Birthright since I haven't played the other two quite yet) and I think Shiro and Ryouma's relationship is pretty similar to theirs as well. It's not as rocky, of course, but Shiro and Asugi both have obvious daddy issues (maybe even father complexes if you want to delve deep enough). It's an important aspect of their characters and I wanted to point that out in this story. 
> 
> Also, Asugi calling Shiro a ham-for-brain is canon and I laugh every time.


End file.
